Braxton Wilks is a member of Winstead’s Wealth Preservation Practice Group. He focuses his practice on trust and estate planning for business owners, corporate executives, and other high-net-worth individuals and families. In addition, Braxton advises individuals on a wide range of legal matters, including premarital planning, wealth transfer planning, asset protection planning, business succession planning, and the administration of trusts and estates. Braxton also has a background advising corporate clients on matters ranging from business formation and corporate governance to negotiating mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures between publicly traded corporations, privately held companies, and family-owned entities. 

Representative Experience

• Design and prepare core estate planning documents, including wills, revocable trust agreements, and medical and financial powers of attorney
• Advise executors, trustees, and beneficiaries regarding the funding, administration, taxation, and distribution of estates and trusts
• Design, implement and monitor business succession plans for family-owned entities and key employees
• Assist families with the formation of limited partnerships and limited liability companies to own and manage family assets, including family farms, ranchland, mineral interests, and vacation residences
• Prepare, review and negotiate premarital agreements
• Design, implement and monitor tax strategies to minimize income, estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) tax liability
• Advise individuals and fiduciaries regarding Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) controversies and related appeals
• Obtain private letter rulings from the IRS on income, estate, gift and GST tax matters
• Prepare and review federal estate tax returns (IRS Form 706) and federal gift tax returns (IRS Form 709)
• Assist trustees with the non-judicial modification of irrevocable trusts through trust decanting techniques
• Prepare, review and negotiate mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures between various entities, including publicly-traded corporations, privately-held companies, family-owned entities and Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (“SPACs”)
• Prepare and review various Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) filings, including Form 8-K, Form 10-Q, Form 10-K, and related proxy statements
• Assist in the evaluation and handling of tender offers and disputed corporate actions